please empty your brain below
Interesting account of your experience. The astonishing point for me is that you've never previously had need for paracetamol. How fortunate you have been; I'm enormously envious.

Frank F | 15.10.20 - 7:54 a.m. | #

Like you I have been angelic in my behaviour, to the point of disinfecting all deliveries (supermarket and parcels) and quarantining post and other deliveries for three days in our garage. Only to open the door to a local council rep who stood right in my face to ask me survey questions. He took offence when I stood back and said this was inappropriate at this time. However, the damage could already have been done. It really is all it takes.

TomH | 15.10.20 - 8:06 a.m. | #

Living with a paranoid housemate who considers that any vague pain (a headache, back ache etc) might be a COVID symptom, regardless of truth/possibility ... has been interesting to say the least.

Glad to hear you don't have "long COVID" DG!

James Scantlebury | 15.10.20 - 8:36 a.m. | #

I had severe bronchitis in late February, so by the start of April I was convinced I was an early case. February is a very social month for me, and I was intrigued to know who I had caught it from, and who I had passed it on to before the scrupulously observed lockdown.

When the instant antibody test became available at the local pharmacy I was was one of the first tested.

Of course, I hadn't had the virus.

This makes the second wave more of a worry as I am now in two at risk categories...

Simon | 15.10.20 - 9:15 a.m. | #

Wagon Wheels don't taste of anything anyway. And they're smaller than they were when I was a kid...

Matt | 15.10.20 - 9:42 a.m. | #

In around the March/April time, I had a headache that persisted for about 6 weeks.

During that period my wife made a vegetable lasagne that tasted of nothing.

I had two separate home tests some time after, both negative, and it turns out that the lasagne did in fact taste of nothing.

So I thought there was a possibility that I have had it as I don't ever suffer from headaches and worked all through lockdown mingling with a whole load of my workmates, but who knows.

PiccDriver | 15.10.20 - 9:43 a.m. | #

Wow. You have such a sweet tooth!

Tintinhaddock | 15.10.20 - 9:58 a.m. | #

An in-law works at her local mini-supermarket food store in a small community. During the first week of lockdown she commented on her sudden loss of smell (not then a recognised symptom).

Locals showered her with small gifts for staying open at this crucial time. I often wonder if she had the virus and, if so, just how many people she infected in that time.

Pedantic of Purley | 15.10.20 - 10:04 a.m. | #

Looking at your self-declared diet of Wagon Wheels, Mint Cornettos, Apple Pie with Custard and Polo Mints I'd be more worried about you becoming Type II Diabetic than getting Covid-19 😉

Kevin Too | 15.10.20 - 10:05 a.m. | #

That last line... *chef's kiss*!

E1W-er | 15.10.20 - 11:20 a.m. | #

Are you going to get an anti-body test to be sure or forever suspect?!

Cornish Cockney | 15.10.20 - 11:36 a.m. | #

Wagon Wheels are NOT smaller!

MO | 15.10.20 - 11:41 a.m. | #

Melbourne to London via a brief stopover in Dubai in mid 2019. By the time we reached London we were so unwell. I've never had a dry hacking cough in my life but I did then. We had no energy. Maybe not COVID-19 but I reckon some form of Coronavirus. I've never experienced anything similar in my life.

So I don't disbelieve that you may have had a form of Coronavirus already.

Andrew | Homepage | 15.10.20 - 1:07 p.m. | #

If there isn't a recognised term for those who think (hope?) they've had it but experienced relatively mild symptoms, maybe there should be.

Frank F | 15.10.20 - 1:42 p.m. | #

Coronavirus or not, you caught something despite your precautions and following the guidance s best as you can.

Peter B | 15.10.20 - 4:22 p.m. | #

I had a wagon wheel around then, but hadn't left the house in a month.

It also didn't taste of anything.

R | 15.10.20 - 8:01 p.m. | #

I don't think that we can be on firm ground on anything with this bloody virus yet. Not until some years from now when dispassionate studies are done.
I have anecdotal and more personal evidence that it was entirely possible to catch the thing at the end of last year if you were in the wrong place.
Authorities wouldn't want this to be trumpeted from the ramparts as that would cast a bad light on the torpidity of their response: not just China, I mean Europe too.

Thank goodness that top levels of our executive haven't been laid low all at once like each of the joint chiefs of staff in the States. I bet Bin Laden is spinning in his watery grave (or climbing the walls of his padded cell) at this serious cock~up and the opportunity I would imagine it would present to those like him.

JP | 15.10.20 - 10:46 p.m. | #

I have *no idea* if I caught it or not. If I did I was exceptionally lucky, and if I didn't then perhaps I have a nasty surprise in store.

When things got ugly in March my organisation was in the throes of a regulatory inspection. That meant a team of 10-15 of us crammed into a meeting room for 15hrs each day strategising and yelling a lot, tons of unhealthy food, little access to fresh air and massive stress overload. During this I certainly developed a cough - but put it down to the oncoming allergy season. At this point Social Distancing sounded like something Gwyneth Paltrow would recommend prior to Concious Uncoupling. I can look back and say "ah, we just didn't know back then!" wistfully.

A few days later we are locked down and at home, and I suddenly noted I couldn't taste or smell much at all. This was prior to the advent of these as confirmed symptoms and my wife suggested this often happened when she had a cold or allergies and was slightly amused by my horrified reaction. But never having had this before I found the whole thing strange and disconcerting. The sensory deprivation of lockdown without enjoying food seemed like an additional circle of hell to navigate...

...and then it suddenly came back. Stronger tastes breaking through at first - and almost unpleasantly intense - then largely back to normal over the course of five or six days.

So I've no idea - I've happily not needed a PCR test and certainly haven't had an antibody test. The biggest effect of the pandemic on my health so far has been a burgeoning waistline following reduced activity. Perhaps I should break the habit of a lifetime and start taking Boris' example?

Mike Newman | Homepage | 16.10.20 - 9:24 a.m. | #

Most importantly though, if this had happened in February would it have changed the Mystery Count!

Cornish Cockney | 16.10.20 - 10:16 a.m. | #

I've got a builder in at the moment, and he's convinced he had it in December.

I am amazed at the number of people who 'think they caught it' before February, despite a negligible, statistically insignificant number of infections at the time.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 16.10.20 - 12:05 p.m. | #

Peter B said it best for me. You did the best you could given the circumstances, but try as we all might we just can't remove the risk of catching it entirely. Or perhaps we can, but not without a cost of some kind.

Sam | 16.10.20 - 12:08 p.m. | #

On 21 March I had a fever for about 12 hours, then a nasty cough that took 7 days to resolve, but no headache, fatigue or sensory loss.

In August I went to France (people masked and distancing), Germany (people masked and not distancing) and Switzerland (people acting as if there was no virus) in the same trip in that order; I had a headache and was very fatigued after the trip.

On reading this post I may have had SARS-CoV 2, or maybe I was just tired from my trip. If I had it I probably got it from people breathing onto me when entering and exiting trains in Zurich, as people only put their masks on after boarding but not when congregating at the doors.

dg re-quotes: Only 1% of people who reported fatigue and/or headache... ended up testing positive for COVID.

John | 18.10.20 - 6:50 p.m. | #

Yesterday I read an article in a reputable news report which said: “Covid-19 antibodies were found in blood samples collected in Italy in September 2019. Wastewater analysis in two northern Italian cities showed traces of the virus in December that year.”
And also: “A sample from a man admitted to hospital near Paris on Dec 27, 2019, with Covid-like symptoms was later retested and returned a positive result.
Unfortunately the source of the info was not mentioned.

Great Aunt Annie | 31.12.20 - 7:50 a.m. | #











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